Cyclones Finish Eighth At Southern Scuffle

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Three members of the Iowa State wrestling team (6-1 overall, 1-0 Big 12) took home hardware at the 2014 Southern Scuffle tonight. No. 2 Kyven Gadson (197), No. 14 Tanner Weatherman (174) and Lelund Weatherspoon (174) each earned a spot on the podium at McKenzie Arena, helping the Cyclones finish eighth in the team race with 71.5 points.

Gadson was the lone Cyclone grappler to wrestle in the finals tonight, as he was pitted against No. 1 Scott Schiller of Minnesota in the 197-pound title bout. The Waterloo, Iowa, native trailed late 4-2 and was unable to get the takedown he needed to tie the match, as he fell 6-3 to the Minnesota All-American.

The redshirt junior finished the tournament with 5-1 record, scoring two pins and two wins over top-15 nationally ranked wrestlers. He was the Cyclones’ top point getter in the tournament, scoring 21 points in his five wins.

Gadson is now 14-2 on the season, with his only losses coming at the hands of Schiller. The two All-Americans will have one more head-to-head matchup in the regular season finale, as Iowa State welcomes Minnesota to Hilton Coliseum on Senior Day Feb. 23.

Weatherman and Weatherspoon were pitted against each other in the fifth-place bout at 174 pounds this evening. Head coach Kevin Jackson elected to medical forfeit Weatherman from the bout, giving Weatherspoon fifth-place and Weatherman sixth.

Each team in the tournament is allowed to have 15 wrestlers in the competition field and multiple grapplers at the same weight. The top point scorer at each weight was counted in the team scoring.

Weatherspoon held a slight edge in the team scoring at 174 with 12 points, as opposed to Weatherman’s 10, factoring into Jackson’s decision to forfeit Weatherman from the match instead of Weatherspoon.

Weatherspoon finished the tournament 6-2 and was the Cyclones’ second highest point getter, scoring 15 points. He is now 21-6 overall on the year.

Weatherman finished the tournament 5-2 and improved his overall record to 17-8.